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Adam Zagoria covers basketball at all levels. He is the author of two books and an award-winning journalist whose articles have appeared in ESPN The Magazine, SLAM, Sheridan Hoops, Sports Illustrated, Basketball Times and in newspapers nationwide.

Jarell Martin Trims List to Seven

Jarell Martin, a 6-foot-9, 223-pound combo forward from Baton Rouge (La.) Madison Prep, has cut his list to seven schools and will decide in the spring.
“He cut his list down a little bit,” his high school coach, Jeff Jones, told SNY.tv.

“He’s going to decide in the spring. No visits are set so far.”
The news was first reported by Rivals.com.
Martin cut Kansas, Arizona and Tulane from his list and is now considering Alabama, Louisville, LSU, Oklahoma State, St. John’s, Texas A & M and UCLA.
Here are Jones’s comments on those seven schools from a June interview with SNY.tv:
Alabama — “Coach [Anthony] Grant is a real sincere guy. He’s doing a great job recruiting him. A lot of his recruitment has come from the head coach perspective. Coach Grant’s a classy guy, a good guy for Jarell to play for and someone he has a lot of respect for.”
Louisville (and Kansas) — “Two national powers, two teams coming off Final Four appearances. Kansas just won the national title a few years ago. It’s a major TV market, major TV exposure. Playing in two power conferences with two of the premier coaches in college basketball is intriguing to him.”
LSU – “LSU being the local school, it’s always big. The local school that makes them relevant. We have to wait and see what coach [Johnny] Jones does in his first year and what kind of talent he can bring in.”
Oklahoma State – “Coach [Butch] Pierre has done a phenomenal job recruiting him and has always been in the picture. Brian Williams who plays there, he’s a kid that Jarell kind of looked up to growing up. Him begin at Oklahoma State and Butch Pierre there makes them very relevant. It’s a good situation down there.”
St. John’s — “A lot of the recruitment has been done by the head coach. Steve Lavin is a classy guy and coach Tony Chiles have done a wonderful job recruiting Jarell, seeing him whenever they’re able to.
“They came down to a practice last year which was big. The kid’s excited about the opportunity to play in Madison Square Garden, the same arena as Carmelo. It’s a power conference, the Big East. Steve Lavin and Tony Chiles have done a great job, that’s why they’re on there.”
Texas A&M — “Caoch Billy Kennedy, another head coach that’s putting his work in. Coach [Glenn] Cyprien has been really hands on. Texas A&M moving to the SEC really helps them. He has a good feeling for those two coaches and them moving to the SEC makes them intriguing to Jarell.”
UCLA-– “They have Shabazz Muhammad, Kyle Anderson, Tony Parker, Jordan Parker and they got a commitment from [2013 guard] Zach LaVine, one of the hottest guards on the circuit right now.
“UCLA definitely has the talent like Arizona. Not only is there a spot for him but there’s a chance for him to go deep in the NCAA Tournament. All the pros that have come out of UCLA in recent years, that’s intriguing to Jarell. It’s a major market, that’s intriguing to him.”

Adam Zagoria is a Basketball Insider who covers basketball at all levels. A contributor to The New York Times and SportsNet New York (SNY), he is also the author of two books and is an award-winning journalist and filmmaker. His articles have appeared in ESPN The Magazine, SLAM, Sheridan Hoops, Basketball Times and in newspapers nationwide. He also won an Emmy award for his work on the SNY mini-documentary on Syracuse guard Tyus Battle.
A veteran Ultimate Frisbee player, he has competed in numerous National and World Championships and, perhaps more importantly, his teams won the Westchester Summer League (WSL) championships in 2011 and 2013.
He lives in Manhattan with his wife and children.